Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-08-04
HINTS ON RoAp-MAxlNo-
Extrocts from N Address Oeltveroo n
Farmsrs' Meeting In DOstOu.

Extrocts from N Address Delivered n .
Farmsrs' Meeting In Boston.
The common practice of repairing
roads. / think, is an outrage to OWL
lied people, especially so in the coun-
try on the common roads. This may
seem like an extravaganza statement.
but do not consider it to be. The
common practice of blowing up the
shoulders of the road and drawing
into the same. or which is, in my judg-
mcnt still worse. the newiy-invented
road-scraper that scrapes mud. and
sod. and stones. all the material there
is. that was entirely worn out long be-
fore We ourselves saw the light of
day. and great many think that
they are a wonderful machine. and
wonder how they got along without
them.
have heard men make the state
ment that they could repair from half y
mile to a mile in day with four horses
and two or three men. Well. what
was it good for when they had done all
this? Some part of the year it might
be fairly good road. but if l remem-
Der right We have to travel on these
roads every day in the year, and a great
part of the year it will be either mud
or dust, and when it Is mud horse
can not draw half the load that he
could if he had a good road. ard work
much harder; and the same may be
said of the dust, besides its being II
great nuisance to the traveller. The
question then comes, how can we make
road that is free from mud and dust,
and that one horse can draw as much
rs two on our common roads?
do not expect that we can build all
these roads in one year or five years.
but we can commence and build more
or less every year until we get the
main travelled ways in good shape.
and when once we'll done. but very
little will keep them in repair. do
not say that all towns have the proper
material Mt hand, but the majority
have. Land where clay soil exists has
in its makeup almost innumerablc
hens eggs to those rs large rs ones
hand and larger. These stones are in
our fields and pastures a nuisance. and
an eye-sore to the farmer. They are
in heaps all over the farm. in the COR
ners of the fields. drawn out and tipped
on the roadside and into ravines. and
in every place conceivable but the
right place, and that is i'm the center of
the road.
We will now suppose that we want
to have an almost perfect road from
one town to another on the main tray
eled road. In the first place we must
decide upon the width, whether to
have it seven or eight feet in width or
twice that width; if only an ordinary
amount of travel eight feet in width
will answer. If the soil is wet and
heavy clay, more depth of stones will
be needed than when of light and
sandy nature.
When the width of the roadway is
decided upon, take strong pillow with
a good team and commence ON the out
side of the roadway, turning the fur
rows outward. and go Il certain dis
lance, not so far as TO very much in
commode the public. After you get a
certain distance turn round and take
the other side. also turning the fur
rows outward; pillow it over in the same
way two or three times, then if Y III
have not depth enough take scoop
shovel and draw out until you have
the proper depth. l would then adj
wise putting in stones to the depth of
about eighteen inches, placing the
largest stones at the bottom. The
firmer and more compact you put in
the stones the better the road. Crown
it so there will be nearly one inch of
fall to the foot from the center of the
roadway. Take special pains to have
the top layer of stones in proper form
and compact together. Once in eight
or ten rods would put in a sluiceway
at the sides for the water to run out.
Cover the stones with good gravel from
one to two inches in depth, well raked
and rolled in. When you have done
this. will guarantee you road. that
with very little care, will last for gen.
erations. The ma erial that is plOwed
out will answer for the shoulders of
the road.
There are many small roads in the
country towns that will have TO be re-
paired As they have been in the past
and there are also many that ought to
be repaired in much more substantial
way than they have been. 1t depends
on the distance to proper material;
with stone and gravel within one. or
even two miles. short distance put in
shape each year will. after awhile,
work wonders. Commence in the
worst places first. Don't break the
shoulders of the road if you can possi-
bly, help it The old saying that a.
stitch in time saves nine in the case of
roads is doubly true; little care often
saves very heavy expense.
On small roads, or rather where there
is but little travel, and the roads run
up and down the hills, would recon-